Tag archives for Everest

“Even the fittest people can succumb to altitude,” says Phil Henderson, the 18-year National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) vet who is the leader of our Southeast Ridge Everest team. His crew includes some of the world’s top rock climbers—Sam Elias, Emily Harrington—who have never tried alpine climbing. And then there’s ski mountaineers Hilaree O’Neill and…

Alpinist and photographer Cory Richards is on the rise—literally and figuratively. He is presently making his way to Everest Base Camp as part of our 2012 expedition, which involves climbing, science, and school kids following along. Once there, Richards and his good friend Conrad Anker will prepare to make a challenging ascent of Everest’s West Ridge…

“Great God! This is an awful place,” wrote Robert Falcon Scott in his diary on January 17, 1912. Just hours before, Scott and his four companions had reached the South Pole, only to discover that Roald Amundsen’s team had beaten them there by a month. Nine weeks later, doomed by a combination of starvation, scurvy,…

Simone Moro has a simple answer for anyone who feels that Mount Everest and the rest of the 8,000-meter peaks are too crowded these days: go in winter. The ebullient, outspoken Italian alpinist has made the first winter ascents of Shisha Pangma, Makalu, and, most recently, Gasherbrum II—an epic climb that was chronicled in the…

Emily Harrington never thought she would climb Everest (learn more about our 2012 expedition). Even as a volunteer instructor at the Khumbu Climbing Center in the shadow of Everest—which teaches Nepali climbers technical skills in rock and ice climbing, as well as safety and leadership—the thought did not occur to her. The 26-year-old is a…

Climber Sam Elias has just arrived in Nepal as part of our 2012 Everest expedition—and if you don’t follow him on Instagram (BookofSamuel), you should. The guy has a great eye. Elias is part of our Southeast Ridge team, which also includes Emily Harrington (his girlfriend), Hilaree O’Neill, Kris Erickson, and their leader Phil Henderson…

What do you pack for the world’s tallest peak? Here’s what ski mountaineer Hilaree O’Neill is bringing to Everest, where she is part of our spring 2012 expedition sponsored by National Geographic and The North Face (learn more about the expedition). Though her main objective is to summit via the Southeast Ridge with her teammates,…

Photograph by Cory Richards. As seen from Lhotse, a team of climbers ascending Everest creates a spectacular line of light on the mountain ridge. WASHINGTON—Continuing his legacy of renowned ascents, famed mountaineer and The North Face athlete Conrad Anker is aiming once again for the top of the world as he leads a team of climbers…

This planet has a huge water problem. Luckily, there are people who are working to solve the global sanitation and water crisis. Even in the developed world, this is now our burden. The Challenge21 Team plans to help. Representing the entity Water For People, Jake Norton, Wende Valentine, and Danielle Elkin have created a mission…

By Peter Potterfield Today's Featured Hike: Lukla to Everest Base Camp Round-Trip: 70 miles, 16 days When to Go: Pre-monsoon (March or April) gives you the rhododendrons in bloom and lots of climber action, but post-monsoon (November) gives you drier weather. Go with guide services that use local Sherpa guides, cooks, and porters—it’s part…

Dave Hahn, Sara, Bill near base of Lhotse Face Text and photographs by Dave Hahn, a guide for RMI Expeditions and First Ascent. In May 2010 Hahn reached the summit of Mount Everest for the 12th time, the most of any a non-Sherpa climber. This time, he is leading a Bill McGahan and his 16-year-old daughter, Sara, on…

A six section horizontal ladder in the Western Cwm. We decided to walk 15 minutes extra in order to avoid crossing it. Text and photographs by Dave Hahn, a guide for RMI Expeditions and First Ascent. In May 2010 Hahn reached the summit of Mount Everest for the 12th time, the most of any a non-Sherpa…

Text and photographs by Dave Hahn, a guide for RMI Expeditions and First Ascent. In May 2010 Hahn reached the summit of Mount Everest for the 12th time, the most of any a non-Sherpa climber. This time, he is leading a Bill McGahan and his 16-year-old daughter, Sara, on a bid for the summit. Follow the…

Text and photograph by Dave Hahn, a guide for RMI Expeditions and First Ascent. In May 2010 Hahn reached the summit of Mount Everest for the 12th time, the most of any a non-Sherpa climber. This time, he is leading a Bill McGahan and his 16-year-old daughter, Sara, on a bid for the summit. Follow…

Sara practicing on a Khumbu ladder Text by Dave Hahn, a guide for RMI Expeditions and First Ascent. In May 2010 Hahn reached the summit of Mount Everest for the 12th time, the most of any a non-Sherpa climber. This time, he is leading a Bill McGahan and his 16-year-old daughter, Sara, on a bid…

Text by Dave Hahn, a guide for RMI Expeditions and First Ascent. In May 2010 Hahn reached the summit of Mount Everest for the 12th time, the most of any a non-Sherpa climber. This time, he is leading a Bill McGahan and his 16-year-old daughter, Sara, on a bid for the summit. Follow the team's Everest…

Text by Dave Hahn, a guide for RMI Expeditions and First Ascent. In May 2010 Hahn reached the summit of Mount Everest for the 12th time, the most of any a non-Sherpa climber. This time, he is leading a Bill McGahan and his 16-year-old daughter, Sara, on a bid for the summit. Follow the team's Everest…

Text by Dave Hahn, a guide for RMI Expeditions and First Ascent. In May 2010 Hahn reached the summit of Mount Everest for the 12th time, the most of any a non-Sherpa climber. This time, he is leading a Bill McGahan and his 16-year-old daughter, Sara, on a bid for the summit. Follow the team's Everest…

Thamserku in the background Text and photographs by Dave Hahn, a guide for RMI Expeditions and First Ascent. In May 2010 Hahn reached the summit of Mount Everest for the 12th time, the most of any a non-Sherpa climber. This time, he is leading a Bill McGahan and his 16-year-old daughter, Sara, on a bid for…

Photograph courtesy of First Ascent / Jake Norton. See photographs from Viesturs Everest expedition. Tomorrow we will officially announce the sixth annual Adventurers of the Year, each honored for their remarkable achievements in the world of adventure. Back in 2005, alpinist Ed Viesturs was named our very first Adventurer of the Year, a title he…

Photo by Eric Larsen Explorer Eric Larsen and his team summited Mount Everest on Thursday, the final quest in his goal to reach the North and South Poles and the rooftop of the world within one year (Everest is considered by some to be a third pole), as reported by the AP. He made a…

Text by Tetsuhiko Endo At the NG Adventure Blog, our reporting often focuses on adventurers of leisure–people who test themselves against Mother Nature in dogged adherence to the George Mallory school of philosophy: "Because it's there." Risk and reward for these modern thrill-seekers is high, but measured on a mostly personal scale. However, there is…

By Tetsuhiko Endo And just like that, it's over. The circus has left the Himalaya and the only evidence that an army of international climbers spent all spring scrambling up and down its forbidding peaks are a few optimistic stragglers and the perennial accumulation of garbage on Mount Everest. As is usually the case, most…

Photograph by Jake Norton. See more Everest pictures. This weekend, American teen Jordan Romero, 13, climbed to the rooftop of the world where he reportedly called his mom. What a good kid. Though specific details regarding the climb are yet unknown, we know the team, which included Romero's dad, completed the climb without notable injuries.…

"Come hither! come hither! my little daughtèr, And do not tremble so; For I can weather the roughest gale That ever wind did blow." Those words were written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in 1842, and although they were inspired by a storm off the East Coast of the United States in 1839, they sum up…